Reputations
and accomplishments
of organizations are built on the backs of individuals. An organization
is the sum total of the values, qualities, and spiritual and
physical strength of the individuals comprising its many elements.
Hardware helps, but the real backbone of any organization is
its personnel.

NOAA today is the result of those who passed before. As such,
Profiles in Time is a collection of biographical sketches of
scientists, meteorologists, engineers, laborers, geophysicists,
observers, cartographers, secretaries, mathematicians, instrument-
makers, sailors, pilots, truck-drivers, mechanics, carpenters,
and all of the other individuals and occupations that comprised
the Coast Survey and Weather Bureau in their various names and
organizational structures.

This small assemblage of names and lives is but a sampler of
the thousands of dedicated individuals who have served in these
organizations since its inception. However, in perusing their
adventures and accomplishments, perhaps the reader will come
to understand that organizations such as NOAA have a spiritual
heritage that inspires those who continue traveling along the
path of those who went before.

Giants
of Science - individuals that made great
contributions either through their scientific accomplishments
or through their ability as science administrators.